senior application developer

program manager

senior operations manager

director of regulatory affairs

senior education specialist

American Heart Association

This is a soul crushing place to work, and the Indianapolis executive director is incompetent and unethical. Plus, she treats employees and volunteers like dirt. If you want to make a difference, look elsewhere. Behind closed doors, there is no focus on the mission. It’s about money. Externally, the organization has shifted it’s messaging/focus away from cardiovascular disease research (which is a worthy cause and what they actually do) to talking about social determinants of health, food deserts, access to healthcare, etc. It’s a total SCAM. They don’t invest in the local community and have zero impact. For example, the Indianapolis Heart Ball has an annual black tie event. The special appeal for donations for the past THREE years has been an ask for donations for a community garden in an underserved Indy neighborhood. It’s raised HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of dollars from individual donors and corporate sponsorships under this premise. There is NO GARDEN (cue high pitched maniacal laugh). The executive director keeps making excuses...she is waiting for a construction company to donate in-kind services to build the garden and doesn’t want to purchase materials, etc. Meanwhile, she most recently “sold” a $50,000 sponsorship for a garden shed. It’s unethical to raise money for a garden and not invest in a garden. Full stop. The excuses are ok for a period of time, but after three years and hundreds of thousands raised...there’s still no garden. Meanwhile, if the excuses are valid and you’re waiting on a permit or something, an ethical person would press pause. Nope...the AHA is going back to the same sponsors and asking for MORE money. It’s disgusting.  Another example, they’re trying to sell an infant CPR kit sponsorship. Behind closed doors, they’re actively discussing how to get by without actually purchasing the CPR training kits. It’s just so icky. The AHA doesn’t deliver on sponsorship promises to corporate partners and your time and/or donation will be better invested elsewhere.

Contrary to many of the negative reviews below the AHA is a great place to work. Having worked for 25 years in the military, state government and for-profit sectors I have to say AHA is one of the best run organizations I have every worked at. Is it perfect, no, but in my 9 plus years I have to say this is the best place I have ever worked. If you are a person committed to working hard for a great cause and mission with opportunities to learn and grow in your career this is the place for you. If you are just looking for a cushy job where you can make lots of money and not work hard then don’t bother. The AHA has many tools to help you be successful including best practices and timelines to follow to ensure your events will be successful and a great on-line university for continuing education. I work with many staff that have been here 10 plus years so comments indicating high turnover are false. AHA has one of the lowest turnover rates in the country. People who are not successful are those that take advantage of the freedom allowed to work from home and manage your own time. When they are not productive and don’t meet their goals they are held accountable and terminated. Sounds like most of the negative comments below are from people that were not committed to the lifesaving mission of the AHA and were only in the positions they held for their own selfish reasons and were held accountable for not adhering to AHA’s high performance standards. In terms of diversity the AHA is about 80% women and 20% men and while not currently at the desired levels for cultural and ethnic diversity the organization has a working Affirmative Action Plan and strives very hard to recruit individuals that reflect the diversity of the communities we serve. Join us you will love it here if you are the right person.

If you are a development professional seeking career growth and an opportunity to improve and develop your skills through building meaningful relationships with donors and volunteers - this is not the place for you.

The development side of this organization is not structured in a way that fosters donor-centric relationships but instead a quick fix,  "steal from one bucket to fill another" mentality. 

Goals set by upper management are so far from the realm of attainability that staff are negatively affected year after year, and volunteers are consistently disappointed in results instead of being motivated or feeling a sense of accomplishment for their efforts.

Additionally, development staff are not given empowerment over their relationships or events. Management maintains all key donor relationships, whether they be corporate or individual, and all fundraising and volunteer strategy requires management approval / facilitation. This process removes ownership from the staff - the people who are essentially accountable for the revenue bottom line.

Lastly, there is zero home life balance. These positions are salaried and even though many of the staff work 50 - 60 hour weeks in the office and after hours, they are required to take vacation time to manage priorities at home like annual doctor appointments or occasional school delays. If you are a development staff with children, you are also required to take vacation time if the office is closed for inclement weather, while the rest of the office is permitted to work from home. 

The development staff here are some of the hardest working people in the industry and genuinely care about their donors, goals and the mission. It's unfortunate that an organization as prominent as the AHA can't seem to recognize the talent they've hired or get it together when it comes to managing their development team.

My orientation period at the American Heart Association has been both enriching and inspiring. Although the role is often referred to as an “office job,” the majority of my work takes place outside the office, engaging directly with clients and building meaningful relationships through networking. This dynamic environment has allowed me to develop a deeper understanding of our mission and the impact we strive to make.

AHA provides a very comprehensive and well-structured 30-60-90 day orientation plan, which ensures that new employees cover all the foundational aspects of their role within the first 90 days. The training is thorough and organized, helping you build confidence and competence early on. This thoughtful approach to onboarding reflects the organization's commitment to setting its team members up for success.

From day one, I’ve felt supported by a team of passionate and dedicated professionals. The culture at AHA is incredibly collaborative—employees genuinely want to see each other succeed and are always willing to lend a hand. Management provides consistent guidance and encouragement without micromanaging, fostering a sense of trust and autonomy.

AHA places a strong emphasis on professional development. On-the-job learning is a constant, and regular seminars offer valuable opportunities to grow within the organization. While the use of acronyms can be overwhelming at first, the team is patient and helpful, and I’ve found that I was able to catch on quickly.

Perhaps most importantly, the work we do here is deeply rewarding. Even though I’m not in a hospital setting every day, I feel a strong connection to our mission and a genuine sense that I’m contributing to saving lives. Being part of an organization that makes such a meaningful impact is both humbling and motivating.

People are enthusiastically passionate about AHA's mission and the organization expects disciplined people with disciplined thought and disciplined action.  We work hard and play hard, and are continuously seeking ways to collaborate and build powerful partnerships.  

The hardest part of the job is all functions have goals with specific metrics and the company is results-oriented.  Sometimes, the attainment of results far outweighs the competencies needed for effective employee relations and conflict arises when the temperature is high.  While relationships are valued, for the most part, employees sometimes feel such pressure to achieve results they struggle with showing up in the most positive and effective ways.  

The most enjoyable part of the job is having the opportunity to learn new things and having your ideas heard and implemented without a lot of red tape.  The senior leaders are approachable and accessible and show a real interest in employee engagement and creating a great work environment. The company was voted one of the Best Non-Profits six or seven years in a row, and it is.  Working at AHA gives you corporate experience with a non-profit mission, and that's a nice mix.

Another great thing is the organization keeps very much at pace with technology, so employees have opportunities to use the latest and greatest technology to stay in touch, do their work, and build their skills.

The AHA offers a great mission of working to eliminate cardiac disease and stroke across the globe.  Many organizations support the mission through fundraising opportunities and true engagement.

Sadly, the area I was in had a much more negative impression of the AHA.  Broken promises by previous employees, the inability to modify fundraising opportunities because AHA structure "does not allow modifications," and the snobbish attitude of the AHA that people and companies should make financial gifts simply because it is the AHA.  

When I joined the organization, I was told rebuilding in my territory would be necessary.  As time progressed, I found that it wasn't just rebuilding - relationships had been destroyed.  Conveying that to leadership was met with simply "try harder" and "contact more businesses."  There was never any assistance on how to rebuild the market - smaller events, "freebies" to entice participation, etc.  A very all-or-nothing perception.

Working from home meant minimal community engagement, and the AHA was not willing to financially support any networking opportunities (Chamber of Commerce, BNI, etc.).  You are left alone to tackle the world - and then chastised when you do not achieve goals.

And goals?  They are thrown at you, your team and your region every day.  The number of meetings, the number of dollars, the number of engagements, etc.  Again, it wasn't about rebuilding - it was about numbers.

Benefits were nice, as was the salary.  The overall experience was very negative, and I would hesitate to ever recommend working for such as organization to anyone.

A typical day is consist of cultivating sponsors/donors, meeting with chair's and committee members or planning an event. I've learned that non-profit can be very ugly. Management is vicious and overpaid.  They whip directors with threats and mind manipulation to raise more money so they can earn their huge bonuses.  Goals and expectations are ludacis and you will have zero input.   Workplace culture is toxic. The hardest part of the job is finding time to do your job between mandatory skype calls and constant reporting.  AHA started out as a fantastic organization truly dedicated to the fight against heart disease, unfortunately it has turned into a money hungry, top heavy, over promise under deliver, heavily involved in national/state/local politics, advocate for socialized medicine with no true mission. They talk mission but it's all talk.  Check out their most recent mission statement, there is NO mention of heart disease rather some nonsense about being a relentless force for longer healthier lives ie global socialized medicine. They take credit for other's work and will put their logo on anything IF the donor pays enough money.  They are in bed with pharma companies and liberal politicians. Management is so out of touch with reality.  They whip directors to death to raise money so they can draw their huge salaries and bonuses.  The only enjoyable part of the job is the volunteers, chairman and committee volunteers. Best advise, if you're looking to donate money there are much better causes out there.  If you're looking for a job............RUN!!!

If you are interested in American Heart as an employer, unless your manager really supports you and stands up for you the workload is massive.  You have staff who give or delegate their work to others, yet they take the credit for delegating and not doing.   The workload has become unbearable at times and most (tenured employees) that you talk  to have a hard time staying a float.  You may get hired to do one job or set of duties, but this changes often and at their discretion after hiring.  Transparency is also tricky here.   Pay is not balanced or consistent along similar positions nor are duties.   Lower level managers and support staff are forced to take on added responsibilities, increased workloads when departments grow.   The ratio of managers to support staff is insane and unrealistic in a majority of their departments.   Unfortunately I have watched the the company move from one that cared about the work life well being of their employees to one that does not as a whole.  There is a lot of red tape to processes.  The things I like about American Heart are that I have built strong relationships there,   I have grown there,  I love the information I have gained to help family members with heart problems, high blood pressure and CPR, the flexibility in work schedule and work from home options.  I love the shared knowledge and some managers willingness to help you grown and genuinely treating you as if your voice matters and that listen, follow up and through with your concerns.

If this were your first office job or first job period, you will learn a lot of office basics to jump start your career. The wellness program is really nice. This is supposed to be a company to where the primary goal is making the community healthy, yet were not really out in the community, did not offer community support and solely seemed to focus on the amount of money that could be raised and each year expected your to raise more and more negating the fact the schools and companies and families that support them are at a loss financially as well due to weather related issues, company setbacks and more. Depending on  your role within the company, determined your work-life balance. Not all staff members were treated fairly. Lots of staff were intentionally overlooked for growth opportunities and salary increases. Lot of unfair treatment. Management did not care about employees that stood up for themselves and actually wanted to advice. At times you were scrutinized if you worked 15-30 minutes overtime. The morale of the office was low and the outcome of the staff productivity and attendance was a direct result.  The dress code was not enforced for all staff at all times. A lot of favoritism.

From applying to the LinkedIn application to onboarding with the company, Heart does it all so well! The recruiter and the Director/VP who I communicated with were always very clear about their expectations and what they're looking for in a candidate. It made it very easy for me to discern if this was the right job that matched my interests, skills, and values. They were also very kind and welcoming. 

Onboarding was just as smooth. My responsibilities are always communicated to me clearly and if I need help, I know who and how to ask for help. There is training that is led by National and there is training provided to me by local team and director. 

As a development coordinator, it is a good balance of operational and data entry work with event logistics work. A typical day at work looks like managing various responsibilities and working across cross-functional teams every day. There are some tasks that stay consistent on a week-to-week basis, then a month-to-month basis. There are also tasks that stay consistent every year, related to specific event/campaigns.

Workplace culture and management are awesome - they are very much invested in the work-life balance of employees. 

I would say that a Development Coordinator is someone who is detail-oriented, timely and accurate with data entry, and has a high ability to learn different systems, processes, and policies. They are also someone who is good with logistics, communication, and can be flexible doing different kinds of tasks for events! 


Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Senior application developer 115 salaries reported	$116,565 per year
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Director of regulatory affairs 99 salaries reported	$104,024 per year
Senior education specialist 97 salaries reported	$98,700 per year

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